Attorney General John Jeremie has expressed concerns that the Law Association may have extra-constitutional veto power over the appointment of the Attorney General. He made the comment while responding to questions relating to the reasons behind his resignation offer.
Asked why he offered his resignation to Prime Minister PatrickManning, even after the Express reported him as saying on July 1 that the Law Association motion will not affect the constitutional appointment of his office, Jeremie responded he did not want to get into the details.
"It would be a sad day if you had an association, for example, which is not responsible. I'm not saying this one is not: and there is a precedent which has been set on almost giving them a veto on the appointment of an Attorney General. It is an extra-constitutional requirement," Jeremie said.
He did so in an interview with the Express after yesterday's sitting of the Senate at the Red House, Port of Spain.
Jeremie said he was following a precedent set by one of his predecessors, Russell Martineau, SC, when he tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Jeremie was making reference to the resignation submitted by Martineau in 1983 to then prime minister George Chambers after the Law Association had passed a resolution of no confidence against him.
Chambers had made scathing remarks against then High Court judge Lennox Deyalsingh based on the advice of Martineau, prompting the Law Association to convene an emergency meeting to censure the attorney general.
Chambers did not accept the resignation.
"It's a convention set by Mr Martineau ... I think I was faithful to that convention," Jeremie said.
Jeremie offered his resignation to Manning after the Law Association had passed a resolution of no confidence in him on July 1, following the publication of a series of letters in the Sunday Express which purportedly showed that Jeremie was attempting to pressure the then Director of Public Prosecutions to prefer criminal charges in high-profile cases.
Manning had only revealed to the public the issue of Jeremie's resignation last Friday while the Attorney General was in London on official business.
Jeremie had earlier told reporters during the tea break of the Senate that he had no comment on Manning's decision on Monday to reject his offer to resign.
"I'm doing my job, I'm doing it to the best of my ability. I am here this afternoon piloting a Bill and I'm doing my job," Jeremie told reporters during the tea break. "Let's not push it, ladies and gentlemen," he pleaded with members of the media.
He had told party supporters during the Monday night meeting that he had placed Jeremie's resignation letter in the shredder as he maintained his position that the Law Association's no- confidence resolution in Jeremie was "politically motivated".
The Express asked Jeremie last evening if he had submitted a written resignation to Manning.
"Whatever form of communication I used, my views were made known in a way that was not mistaken and the Prime Minister made his views known in a way which cannot be misunderstood either. It is one which is consistent the nature of the relationship which we have. That is all I want to say," Jeremie said.
He said that whatever he did "was effective" and did not want to get into the specifics.
Jeremie, who served as Attorney General in the previous PNM administration, returned from his post at this country's High Commission in London, to take up his old job after Bridgid Annisette-George suddenly resigned.
